Means for mooring and refueling boats, seaplanes, and the like



Nov. 27, 1956 L. H. J. BRACKX EH15 FOR MOORING AND REFUELING BOATS.SEAPLANES. AND THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 28, 1952 INV ENTOR.Lfll/RE/VT bf J 51646 14 X Tzicl. E. 27

147' TOR/Vt V L. H. J. BRACKX MEANS FOR MOORING AND RE BOATS- Nov. 27,1956 FUELING SEAPLANES, AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 28, 1952 v 3Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

muwvr ATTORNEY 1 L. H. J. BRACKX ,771,617

MEANS FOR uooRmc AND REFUELING BOATS SEAPLANES, AND THE LIKE Flled Nov28, 1952 3 Shasta-Shut 3 IN V EN TOR.

Z/W/Qf/Yr H J 5164670 B United States Patent O MEANS FOR MOQRING ANDREFUELING BOATS, SEAPLANES, AND THE LIKE Laurent H. J. Brackx, Woodside,N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Howard T. Jeandron, Keyport,N. J.

Application November 28, 1952, Serial No. 322,907 17 Claims; (Cl. 9-8)This invention relates to a floating buoy and more particularly to amooring buoy and refueling station for boats, seaplanes and the like.

A mooring buoy in general is an old device and generally constitutes afloating vessel that is securely anchored. The floating vessel isprovided with rings or similar means for tying or mooring to. In thepresent invention there is provided a similar buoy or floating vesselthat is to be securely anchored but the mooring means is entirelydifferent from any of the prior art in that it is constructed as acircular track or ring aflixed to the top of the buoy. A speciallydesigned block is provided for mooring to this circular track, the blockbeing free to roll around the track as the vessel being moored shiftswith the wind. A further use of the same mooring buoy is to provide acentral aperture or bore completely through the buoy to permit passingan under water hose line up through the buoy and thus provide an offshore refueling station.

The prior art illustrates various attempts along this line such as anEnglish device that is a floating buoy in which the fuel is stored. TheEnglish buoy is anchored at the lower center of the buoy so that withthe old type mooring to a davit the shifting of the moored vessel willactually rotate the buoy due to its central anchoring permitting it tothus rotate. Another prior art device contemplates the use of a smallsolid floating block with a central aperture through which a fuel hosemay be passed. This serves as the attaching means to support and retainthe fuel hose above the level of the Water. A still further type ofdevice developed in the prior art contemplates a conically shapedfloating buoy that is provided with a single hawse pipe through the buoybut so formed that the anchoring means will be to one side of the buoyand not through the center of the buoy. In this device the mooring meansis the usual type of stationary davit and in this particular buoy therefueling tank is stored in the buoy. A still further device illustratedin a Swedish patent contemplates a circular buoy that is anchored in astationary position and in which a power line or telephone or telegraphline may be passed through the center of the buoy and by means of arotatable collar on the upper surface of the buoy this power line may bepassed to a vessel that is moored to this buoy by means of a pivotallysupported mooring arm thus permitting the vessel torotate about the buoyand be supplied with power by the cable; This particular mooring deviceis extremely weakdue to the fact that the pull of the mooring is outwardand upward and thus the entire stress will be produced on, the pivotallysupported center and not on the circular track as intended. A stillfurther buoy developed in the prior art refers to a floating telegraphstation wherein the buoy is anchored by' a central anchorage permittingthe buoy to rotate while a telegraph line is passed directly through thecenter of the buoy. There havebeen other attempts to utilize some of theprinciples. involved in applicants invention, namely, a: French: patentwhich is 2,771,617 Patented Nov. 27, 1956 not a floating buoy but ratheris incorporated into a mast of a ship. This particular device is areflueling line for an aircraft and is so constructed that there is aturntable mounted on top of the mast and the hose line is connected to awinch so that the line may be payed out to a flying craft while itcircles about the mast of the ship and thus used to refuel the flyingmachine. This invention contemplates an entirely different structurefrom applicants device. A still further device developed in the priorart contemplates the manner for supplying electricity through anelectrical connector that is swivelly mounted. This is incorporated in arotatable gun mount and simply illustrates the manner of permittingcomplete 360 rotation while supplying current to the device and theprincipal involved could readily be applied to a swivel hose connectionfor refueling but this device does not provide any structure similar to.applicants device.

It is an object of this invention to provide a floating buoy that may beanchored for mooring a ship or floating vessel in which the buoy isgenerally wheel shaped on its upper extremity and provided with mooringmeans that will roll about the periphery of the wheel structure.

Another object of this invention is to provide a float-- ing buoy thatmay be anchored in which the upper extremity is wheel shaped and inwhich the mooring block is attached to the periphery of the wheel torotate about same and in which the buoy is provided with a centralaperture passing through the buoy to permit passing an off shore hoseline from under water through the central aperture to the deck of thebuoy where it is available for connection to a moored vessel.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a hollowfloatable buoy that may be anchored in a set position and in which thebuoy is provided with a central aperture through which an under waterhose may be passed to the deck of the buoy for connection to a mooredvessel.

A still further object of this invention is. to provide ahollowfloatable buoy that may be anchored in a set position and in which thebuoy is provided with a central aperture through which an under waterhose may be passed from a supply source under water to the deck of thebuoy for connection to a moored vessel and in which means are providedwithin the buoy to take on a water ballast for submerging the buoy or topump out the water ballast to refioat the buoy.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a floating buoythat may be anchored in which the upper deck is wheel shaped androtatable with relation to the body of the buoy and in which a circulartrack is provided on the upper deck and a mooring block is attached tothe circular track for rotation about said track and in which means areprovided within said buoy to permit rotating said deck to any desireddegree of rotation with relation to the body of the buoy.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a floating buoythat may be anchored in which the upper deck is wheel shaped androtatable with relation to the body of the buoy and in which a circulartrack is provided on the upper deck and a mooring block is attached tothe circular track for rotation about said track and in which means areprovided within said buoy to permit rotating said deck to any desireddegree of rotation with relation to the body of the buoy and in which acentral aperture or bore passes through the upper deck and body of thebuoy to permit passing an under water hose line to the deck of the buoyfor connection to a moored vessel.

A still further object of this invention. is to provide a floatingbuoythat may be anchored in which the upper deck is wheel. shaped androtatable with relation to the body. of the buoy andin which a circulartrack is provided on the upper deck and a mooring block is attached tothe circular track for rotation about said track and in which means areprovided within said buoy to permit rotating said deck to any desireddegree of rotation with relation to the body of the buoy and in which acentral aperture or bore passes through the upper deck and body of thebuoy to permit passing an under water hose line to the deck of the buoyfor connection to a moored vessel and in which means are provided topull said hose through the central bore and lift said hose to apredetermined elevated position.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a floating buoythat may be anchored in which the upper deck is wheel shaped androtatable with relation to the body of the buoy and in which a circulartrack is provided on the upper deck and a mooring block is attached tothe circular track for rotation about said track and in which means areprovided within said buoy to permit rotating said deck to any desireddegree of rotation with relation to the body of the buoy and in which acentral aperture or bore passes through the upper deck and body of thebuoy to permit passing an under water hose line to the deck of the buoyfor connection to a moored vessel and in which means are provided topull said hose through the central bore and lift said hose to apredetermined elevated position and in which a connecting link isprovided to connect the mooring block on said circular track with thesupporting block of the elevating means retaining said hose line torotate the hose connection in the same relation as the mooring line tothe moored vessel.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a floating buoythat may be anchored in which the upper deck is wheel shaped androtatable with relation to the body of the buoy and in which a circulartrack is provided on the upper deck and a mooring block is attached tothe circular track for rotation about said track and in which means areprovided Within said buoy to permit rotating said deck to any desireddegree of rotation with relation to the body of the buoy and in whichsaid deck is provided with a water tight dome cover.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a floating buoythat may be anchored in which the upper deck is wheel shaped androtatable with relation to the body of the buoy and in which a circulartrack is provided on the upper deck and a mooring block is attached tothe circular track for rotation about said track and in which means areprovided with said buoy to permit rotating said deck to any desireddegree of rotation with relation to the body of the buoy and in whichsaid deck is provided with a bullet proof dome cover.

Other objects of this invention shall be apparent by reference to theaccompanying detailed description and the drawings in which Fig. 1 is aside elevational view partly in section of one embodiment of thefloating buoy,

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view partly in section of anotherembodiment of the floating buoy,

Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in cross section of a motor andassociated gear train for rotating the deck of the buoy shown in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a cross section of the rail and mooring block utilized in bothFigs. 1 and 2,

Fig. 5 is a partial cross sectional view illustrating another embodimentof the mooring means illustrated in Fig. 1,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the anchored buoy and a vessel mooredthereto and connected by means of a hose line to said buoy, and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view illustrating the connection between therotatable mooring block and the fuel supporting block.

Referring to Fig. 1 there is illustrated a floatable buoy 10 which maybe of any particular shape but in this embodiment is illustrated asbeing circular in shape.

The buoy 10 may be constructed of any buoyant material or as illustratedin this embodiment be constructed of a water tight hollow vessel with ahull 28. The buoy it) in Fig. 1 is provided with a water tight hollowvertical shaft 12 centrally positioned and passing completely throughthe buoy It). The buoy 10 is provided with a deck 13. The buoy 10 isalso provided with a plurality of anchors 27 connected by means ofchains 29 to the base of the hull 28 at spaced points around the hull.The deck 13 is also provided with a circular rail 3t? position on thedeck to encircle the deck adjacent to the outer edge. A block 31 ismounted to grip the rail 30 on opposite sides and be rotatable about thecircular rail. Block 31 comprises a generally U shaped body portion 31A(Fig. 4) that is provided with a pair of concave rollers 32A and 323each mounted in the opposite legs of the U shaped block. The rollers 32Aand B are spaced apart at the same distance as the diameter of the rail3% and with the block 31 mounted on a rail St) the rollers 32A and Bwill provide a tight fitting gripping relationship although allowing aneasy rolling action around the circular rail. A leaf spring 34 ispositioned between the block 31 and the rail 39 to prevent vibration ofthe block and similar springs 34A and 34B are mounted at the ends of theU shaped legs to bear upon the roller ends to prevent vibration of therollers 32A and B. One leg of the U shaped block is provided with anaperture 36A to permit mounting a transverse bolt 36. The bolt 36 isused to clamp an anchor chain or cable 37 to the block 31. Thus it isapparent that with the buoy 10 anchored by means of its chains 29 andanchors 27 it will remain in a predetermined position and is ready atall times for a ship to moor to. With the block 31 mounted on the rail30 it is an easy matter for a ship to pass a chain 'or cable to the deck13 where it may be quickly and easily bolted by means of the transversebolt 36 to the block 31. The ship may then drift in any position, thebuoy 1t) permitting the moored ship to drift anywhere in 360 ofrotation.

Referring to Fig. 2 there is illustrated a similar type of buoy 10.However in this embodiment the deck 13 does not have the rail 30 mountedon the surface of the deck. Instead, the rail 30 is mounted on theextreme edge of deck 13 adjacent to the side of the buoy 10. Also inthis embodiment an auxiliary rotatable deck 14 is provided. Deck 14 ismounted upon deck 13 by means of rollers 15 to be rotatable over thecomplete 360. Referring further to Fig. 2 the vessel 10 may beconstructed of water tight compartments. The upper portion of the buoymay be constructed with compartment 11A and in some instances where thebuoy is extremely large this compartment may be used for crews quartersand office. The lower portion of the buoy may be divided intocompartments 11B and 11C. Compartment 11C may be used for fuel or waterand serves as a ballast while compartment 11B may be utilized formotors, pumps and the necessary gear. In this type of buoy, a pump 40may be provided in compartment 118. Pump 40 will be connected to a twoway valve 41 and the valve in turn will be connected by a line 42through the hull 28 to the exterior of the buoy, while the valve is alsoconnected by a second pipe 43 through compartment 11A and through theupper extremity of the hull so that the outlet of pipe 43 will be intothe air rather than the water. The pump 40 on the opposite side will beconnected by a pipe 44 to compartment 11C. Thus with a power supply notillustrated, pump 40 will of course be connected to a motor (not shown)which in some instances will be an electric motor in other instances agasoline or fuel driven motor. Thus it is apparent that pump 40 may beoperated to drain the ballast of the buoy 10, that is, the compartmentmay be filled or emptied as desired to increase or decrease the ballastof buoy 10. In a further embodiment of this invention, with compartment11A and compartment 11C connected by a pipe 45, it is possible to "floodthesecompartments and cause the buoy to be completely submerged to hidethe buoy during times of war and yet. a single operator may reverse pump40 pumping out these compartments to raise buoy 10 when desired; Thebuoy 10 in some instances may have a'substantial diameter, for example,30 ft. at the bottom and 40 ft. at the top or deck level. The buoy isprovided with out-flaring sides 46 to provide resistance torocking in alight sea. The outer periphery of the buoy is provided with a bumper 46Ato protect the hull of the buoy from any moored vessel. The buoy 10 inthe event it is prov-ided'with living quarters and pump and gear will ofcourse be provided with hatches through the decks and ladders or stairfor easy access.

A still further embodiment of this invention as illustrated in Fig. 2includes a hoist in the form of a crane or lever 16 supported on archedsupports 17 having a pivot shaft 18. The lever 16 may be reciprocated bymeans of a cable 19 passing to a wind up drum 21A of a conventionalwinch 2i). Winch 20 is also provided with a second wind up drum 21B. 21Bis provided with a cable 21 which passes over pulleys at either end ofthe lever 16 and the end of cable 21 is attached to a collar 26. When ahose 25 is pulled through the center shaft 12 of the buoy, the hose 25is mounted in the collar 2s and by means of cable 21 the hose 25 isreadily lifted or maneuvered as required in connecting this hose to asimilar hose from a moored ship. The winch 20 may similarly be driven bya motor (not shown) which may be an electric motor or a fuel drivenmotor as desired.

Referring to Fig. 2 wherein deck 13 supports an auxiliary rotatable deck14, due to the shifting of a moored ship it is convenient to provide ameans of rotating deck 14 with relation to deck 13 and the mechanism forproviding this rotation is illustrated in Fig; 3 in which deck 13 isprovided with an upright 52'which is formed circular to encompass thedeck 13 although supported and aflixed to deck 13. The upright 52'isprovided with a pinion rack 5t". As already stated before, deck 14 issupported by rollers 15 and in order that the rollers may be retained ina definite position, atrack 15A may be provided for the roller 15 tomate with; Track 15A will necessarily be circular in planview. Supportedon deck 14 is a motor 56, motor 55 driving a pinion gear 55'. The gear55 is in turn meshed with a gear 54 that is mounted on and pinned to avertical shaft 53,.the vertical shaft 53 being supported by bearings.53A and B at either end thereof. Bearing 53A is supported by the housingstructure mounted on motor 56 while bearing 53B is supported directly'ondeck'14. Shaft 53 below bearing 53? is provided with a pinion gear 51that is aligned with and meshes with the rack 5.0.. Shaft.53 at itsopposite end above bearing 53A is provided with a gear 58 that mesheswith a pinion gear 57; Gear 57 is mounted on a shaft (not shown) andthis shaft is in turn connected through internal gearing to a hand crank55A. A clutch lever 59 is provided so that the hand crank shaft may beengaged or disengaged as desired. Thus it is apparent that an operatorstanding on deck 14 may supply the necessary power. (not shown) to motor5'6 to operate motor 56 in either direction and as a consequence, withthe motor 56 operating by means of the gears 5'5 and 54, gear 51 willrotate about the rack gear 5t carrying the rotatable deck 14- in acircular direction rolling upon the rollers 15 and track 15A. The degreeof rotation will be under the control of the operator. Likewise, in theevent the operator does not desire to move deck 1.4 to any appreciabledistance of rotation, he may readily by means of lever 59 engage thehand crank SrEA with gear 57 and by rotating crank 56A in eitherdirection may readily move gear 51 to- 1'0- tate on rack 5d and thusmove deck 14' in either direction the desired degree of movement.

Referring to Fig. 4 there is shown thegeneral construction of the rail30. Rail 30 is retained in a particular position by the plurality ofspaced supports 33.- The supports 33 are bolted or welded directly todeck 13. Each support 33 is provided with an extended boltlike arm 33Athat is positioned at approximately to the surface of deck 13. The arms33A pass through rail 3i and anchors rail 39 in the position illustratedin Fig. 4. Thus it is apparent that with rail 30 supported on deck 13that block 31 may be rolled around rail 30 to any position and thusprovides the mooring means for a vessel to be moored to the buoy 10.

Referring to Fig. 5 there is illustrated a fragmentary view of one edgeof the buoy 10 illustrating a further embodiment in which the rail 30 ismounted upon the side or the buoy it In this embodiment the same block31 is provided and mounted on rail 34?. It is apparent that with thismounting, deck 13 may be entirely clear.

Referring to Fig. 6 there is illustrated in perspective a ship 7%?moored by means of cables 71 to a block 31B that is similar to block 31.Block 318 is provided with a ring 73 to permit a hook 72 to be attached,hook 72 in turn being attached to the cables 71 from the ship 70. Inthis embodiment the buoy Hill is similar to buoy 10 of Fig. 2 exceptthat deck is is provided with a dome cover 6b, cover as having a segmentor slit opening 63 through which the hose 253 may be passed and throughwhiclta segmet oil of the dome cover 69 is hinged at the crown pointsupport a beam 64 that is provided with icy Thus a cable 66 may bepassed from a winch as already described over pulley to a supportingcollar 67 through which the hose 65B is passed. T his provides the meansto raise and lower the extremely heavy hose as desired. It is apparentaccording to that with a ship 70 moored to a buoy 10B and with a hosesuch as a refueling hose 25B running from a shore station under wateralong the bottom and up through the center of buoy NB, the hose may becoupled to a ships hose for refueling the ship 7%. Since this operationtakes considerable time the Wind may shift during the operation, suchvariation in position may be as much as swing and in such instance themooring permits the ship to easily swing to the new position and thehose supported in the manner illustrated provides plenty of looseflexible hose to adjust to the new position. However, in a furtherembodiment of this invention as illustrated Fig. 7, a chain 63 isconnected between the outer end of he and the block 313 so that as theblock 3" is moved to a new position it will in turn pull the done coverin the same direction of movement. With the dome supported on a rotatingdeck 14 and with the doc i responsive to the sli htest pull of the chainas, ;he deck will rotate with the movement of block 31B and thus thesupporting collar 67 will be moved in the same direction and the hose25B wiil likewise be moved to the new position. Hose 25B is providedwith two couplings 25C and 25D one on either side of the supportingcollar 67. Either coupling and especially coupling 25D may beconstructed as a swivel coupling to permit the distortion or rotation ofthe hose the moored vessel swings about the buoy. The buoy iifiB asillustrated in Fig. 6 will be anchored in the same fashion as the buoydescribed in Figs. 1 and 2 by means of anchors 27B and chains 293. Thusit is apparent that with a fuel tank '75 located on the shore that anunderwater hose line 253 may be laid along the bottom of the waterextending out to an anchored buoy MB. The hose 25B will be passed upthrough a central bore 128 in the buoy. The hose will be fitted to acoupling 25D and by means of thewinch, cable and collar described thehose 258 may be manipulated to a desired position so that when a ship 70is moored by means of cables 71 to a block 31B, the ship is quickly andeasily tied and will be free to shift to any position in the 360 of thecompass according to the prevailing wind. While the ship 70 is somoored, a fuel hose may be passed from the ship and connected tocoupling 25C. With the arrangement as described in Fig. 7, the shiftingof the moored ship will in turn move the fuel hose and its supportingstructure in a rotary movement to prevent distortion and damage to thefuel hose line. It is apparent that a refueling operation may continuefor a long period of time unattended with this type of mooring. It is ofcourse understood that the fuel or any other fluid to be loaded intoship 70 may be pumped from the tank 75 in the event the tank is lowerthan ship 70, or the fuel or fluid may run by gravity in the event thetank 75 is higher than ship 70. Although applicant has described dome 60and beam 64 as rotatable by the pull of the ship 70 and block 313 inFig. 6, it is apparent that in Fig. 2 the deck and superstructure may beof such exceptional weight that it is not easily rotatable by a mooringline pull and in such event as already described, the deck may berotated by means of a motor 56 or the exact adjustment of the rotationof the deck to position the fuel line may be attained with a hand crank56A.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 5 it is apparent that rail 30 may besituated on deck 13 as shown in Fig. 1 or at the edge of deck 13 asshown in Fig. 2 or on the side or flared surface 46 of the buoy as shownin Fig. 5. The reason for the variations in the position of rail 30 aredue to the diversity of the buoy. It may be used for mooring a dirigibleor a floating ship or a floating seaplane or a submerged submarine. Withthe dirigible, ship or seaplane the shifting of the vessel is generallycaused by the prevailing wind whereas with the submerged submarine, theshifting wil be provided by the prevailing current or tide. The buoy iscapable of refueling or supplying a fluid to any of the aforementionedvessels and according to one embodiment disclosed, the buoy is alsocapable of floating to complete a coupling operation with a surfacedsubmarine and capable of submerging with the submarine and still permitthe fueling operation to continue. In this particular embodiment, chains29 would not be permanently attached to the lower surface of the buoybut instead will be attached through portholes 453 in the outflaringsides 46 to permit taking up the slack in chains 29 as the buoy issubmerged and vice versa the chains 29 may be payed out as the buoy 10is refloated or raised. It is also apparent that an operator may descendinto the buoy closing and sealing the hatches and remaining incompartment MB to operate pump 40. A further necessity for long periodsof submersion may be in the form of a telescoping tube 90 extending fromcompartment 11B. In the event the buoy is submerged to a considerabledepth it may be necessary to extend a hose 91 from tube 90 to abreathing float 92.

The buoy 19 or 10B of Figs. 2 or 6 may perform various other functionsin addition to mooring and providing offshore fueling or loading offluid fuels. The buoy may (1) be used for unloading ships, tankers,barges, etc. in shallow waters as illustrated in Fig. 6. (2) The deviceas illustrated may also be used for transmitting and transferring fluidsand comminuted materials from ship to shore or vice versa. (3) The buoymay also be used as a dredging means being provided with a suction pumpand thus the buoy may be anchored in any desired spot where a dredgingoperation is to be performed. The hose from the shore to the buoy willbe connected by means of an auxiliary hose 40A from deck 13 to line 43or 42 as the case may be while the suction side of pump 40 will beconnected to an auxiliary hose 40B which may be passed through the hull28 by means of one of the portholes 45B. Hose 40B at its outer end willbe provided with a suction head 40C. It is further apparent that in thisembodiment the winch 20 and cable 21 and collar 28 may be utilized tosupport the auxiliary hose 40B. (4) The buoy may also be used for divingand underwater operations. In this instance it may be preferable toreverse the hose 25 bringing it over the deck and down through the buoyWhere the buoy is to be submerged to a considerable depth. (5) The buoymay also be submerged and utilized as a pumping means for underwater oilwells. This removes the present difficulties in maintaining a rigidsupporting structure for a pipe line from the underwater well to thesurface in rough Water. Instead, the buoy may be anchored at the bottomor in close proximity to the bottom and in a submerged condition willnot be bothered by rough or choppy waters.

Although the buoy has been described and illustrated as circular, thefloating vessel may be of any configuration as long as the track 30 isprovided generally round or oval in pian to permit easy rotation of theblock 31 about the periphery of the track 30. Thus it is conceivablethat the superstructure including the track 30 may be mounted on afloating ship or a submersible vessel such as a submarine withoutdeparting from the spirit of this invention. It is also apparent thatalthough the buoy has been illustrated with a central well to pass ahose line therethrough, the line may be an air line with a flexible pipeor may be communication lines or power lines either taken alone or incombination. Various changes may be made to the general structure of thevessel without departing from the spirit of this invention and thisinvention shall be limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An offshore buoy which includes a floating vessel having a clear deckdisposed above the surface of the water, a circular pipe shaped mooringtrack in the form of a wheel supported and aflixed to the circumferenceof said deck, a mooring block mounted by means of rollers to pivotaround the periphery of said track and to be moveable about thecircumference of said wheel shaped track and said deck, anchoring meansprovided to anchor said buoy in a predetermined non-shiftablenon-rotatable position.

2. In a device according to claim 1 said floating vessel comprised of aplurality of Water tight compartments, a fluid pump and power meansmounted in one compartment, said pump connected on one side to theexterior of the buoy and connected on the other side to one or moreother compartments, and means to regulate the degree of ballast in saidbuoy.

3. In a device according to claim 1 said floating vessel comprised of aplurality of water tight compartments, a fluid pump and power meansmounted in one compartment, said pump connected on one side to theexterior of the buoy and connected on the other side to one or moreother compartments, means to submerge said buoy below the surface ofsaid water and means to refloat said buoy.

4. An offshore re-fueling buoy which includes a floating vessel having aclear deck disposed above the surface of the water, a circular pipeshaped mooring track in the form of a wheel supported and affixed tosaid deck, a mooring block mounted by means of rollers to pivot aroundthe periphery of said track and to be moveable about the circumferenceof said track and said deck, anchoring means provided to anchor saidbuoy in a predetermined non-shiftable non-rotatable position, a hollowWell or bore extending through the center of said buoy from the .deck tothe bottom of said buoy, a hose line or conduit extending through saidhollow well or bore having its upper end disposed above said deck andmeans provided on deck for hoisting and supporting said upper end abovesaid deck.

5. In a device according to claim 4 in which said track is supported andafiixed adjacent to the outer circumference of said deck.

6. In a device according to claim 4 said floating vessel comprised of aplurality of water tight compartments, a fluid pump and power meansmounted in one compartmeat, said pump connected on one side to theexterior of the bony and connected on the other side to one or moreother compartments, means to moor a submersible craft with a freedom ofdrift about said floating vessel, means to submerge said buoy below thesurface of the water and means to refloat said buoy.

7. In a device according to claim 4 said hose line through said wellbeing connected by means of an auxiliary hose to the outlet side of apump, said pump being connected on its suction side by means of anauxiliary hose through a port in said buoy to a suction head fordredging purposes.

8. An offshore buoy which includes a floating vessel having a deckdisposed above the surface of the water, a circular pipe shaped mooringtrack in the form of a wheel supported and afiixed to the circumferenceof said deck, a mooring block mounted by means of rollers to pivotaround the periphery of said track and to be movable about thecircumference of said track, anchoring means provided to anchor saidbuoy in a predetermined non-shiftable position, a hollow well or boreextending through the center of said buoy from the deck to the bottom ofsaid buoy, a rotatable deck disposed above the surface of the buoy deck,said deck provided with a hoistmeans, a hose line or conduit extendingthrough said hollow well or bore having its upper end disposed abovesaid deck, said hoisting means connected to the upper end of said hoseline by means of a swivel connection, means to moor a boat to said buoyand means to connect the boats fuel hose to the hose supported by saidelevating means.

9. in a device according to claim 8 a chain connected between saidmooring block and said elevating means, means to rotate said dome withthe movement of said mooring block.

10. An offshore buoy which includes a floating vessel with an outfiaringedge having a deck disposed above the surface of the water, a wheelshaped track supported and affixed to said deck, a moo-ring blockmounted by means of roilers to said track and to be movable about theperiphery of said track, a plurality of portholes positioned under theoutflaring edge, a plurality of anchors and chains, said chains passedthrough said portholes and secured in said buoy, said buoy comprised ofa plurality of water tight compartments, a fluid pump and power meansmounted in one compartment, said pump connected on one side to theexterior of the buoy and connected on the other side to one of moreother compartmants, means to submerge said buoy, means to take up theanchoring chains to retain said submerged buoy in a predeterminedposition and means to pay out said anchoring chains when reiloating saidbuoy.

11. An offshore buoy which includes a floating vessel with an outflaringedge having a deck disposed above the surface of the water, a wheelshaped track supported and aflixed to said deck, a mooring block mountedby means of rollers to said track and to be movable about the peripheryof said track, a hollow well or bore extending through the center ofsaid buoy from the deck to the bottom of said buoy, a hose line orconduit extending through said hollow well or bore having its upper enddisposed above said deck and means provided for supporting said upperend, a plurality of portholes positioned under the outfiaring edge, aplurality of anchors and chains, said chains passed through saidportholes and secured in said buoy, said buoy comprised of a pluralityof water tight compartments, a fluid pump and power means mounted in onecompartment, said pump connected on one side to the exterior of the buoyand connected on the other side to one or more other compartrnents,means to moor a submersible craft, means to connect said hose by meansof a swivel connection to a hose line from said submersible craft, meansto submerge said buoy, means to take up the anchoring chains to retainsaid submerged buoy in a predetermined position and means to pay outsaid anchoring chains when refloating said buoy. w h v 12. A floatingbuoy providing simultaneously a mooting buoy and refueling station forboats, s'eaplanes and the like comprising a hollow water tight vesselincluding a plurality of compartments, said compartments divided fromeach other and Water tight to permit the use of one or more compartmentsas ballast fluid tanks, one compartment provided with a pump and powermeans, said pump connected to the exterior of the buoy by two pipes, onebelow water, one above the normal floating line of the buoy, said pumpconnected on its opposite side to the compartments that may be used astanks, said buoy provided with a plurality of anchoring means connectedto the lower portion of the buoy, said buoy provided with a central wellthrough which a hose line may be passed from underwater to the deck ofthe buoy, a swivel connection provided on deck for hoisting one end ofsaid hose line to a position above deck, said buoy provided with a roundpipe shaped track that is circular to correspond with the shape of itsupper deck, said circular track provided with a mooring block, saidmooring block provided with rollers to permit said block to roll aboutthe periphery of said track while retaining a gripping relationship withsaid track, means to anchor said buoy in a predetermined set position,means to moor a boat in any quadrant about said buoy by means of saidblock and means to connect a ship fluid hose to the hose supported insaid buoy by means of a swivel connection.

13. An offshore refueling buoy which includes a floating vessel having aclear deck disposed above the surface of the water, a circular pipeshaped mooring track in the form of a wheel supported and atfixcd to thesides of the buoy above the water line when said buoy is in a buoyantbut loaded condition, a mooring block mounted by means of rollers topivot around the periphery of said track and to be moveable about thecircumference of said track and said buoy, anchoring means provided toanchor said buoy in a predetermined non-shiftable non-rotatableposition, a hollow well or bore extending through the center of saidbuoy from the deck to the bottom of said buoy, a hose line or conduitextending through said hollow well or bore having its upper end disposedabove said deck, and means provided on deck for hoisting and supportingsaid upper end above said deck.

14. An offshore refueling buoy which includes a floating vessel having aclear deck disposed above the surface of the water, a circular pipeshaped mooring track in the form of a wheel supported and athxed to theoutfiaring sides of the buoy which may be retained below the water line,a mooring block mounted by means of rollers to pivot around theperiphery of said track and to be moveable about the circumference ofsaid track and said buoy, anchoring means provided to anchor said buoyin a predetermined non-shiftable non-rotatable position, a hollow wellor bore extending through the center of said buoy from the deck to thebottom of said buoy. a hose line or conduit extending through saidhollow well or bore having its upper end disposed above said deck, andmeans provided on deck for hoisting and supporting said upper end abovesaid deck.

15. An offshore refueling buoy which includes a floating vessel having adeck disposed above the surface of the water, a round bar shaped mooringtrack in the form of a wheel supported and affixed to said buoy, amooring block mounted to pivot around the periphery of said track andmoveable about the circumference of said track, a rotatable structuredisposed above the surface of the deck of the buoy, said rotatablestructure including a second deck with a hoist supported thereon,anchoring means provided to anchor said buoy in a non-rotatableposition, a tube extending through the center of the buoy and the deckof the rotatable structure, means to pick up a hose line or conduit withsaid hoist and raise same through said tube to a position above the deckof said rotatable structure.

16. In a device according to claim 15 in which the 1'0- tatablestructure includes an enclosing housing for said hoist, said housingprovided with an aperture through which the hose line maybe extended.

17. An offshore refueling buoy which includes a floating vessel having aclear deck disposed above the surface of the water, a circular pipeshaped mooring track in the form of a wheel supported and aflixed tosaid buoy, a mooring block mounted by means of rollers to pivot aroundthe periphery of said track and to be moveable about the circumferenceof said track and said buoy, anchoring means provided to anchor saidbuoy in a predetermined non-shiftable non-rotatable position, a hollowWell or bore extending through the center of said'buoy from the deck tothe bottom of said buoy, a hose line or conduit extending through saidhollow Well or bore having its upper end disposed above said deck, andmeans 12 provided on deck for hoisting and supporting said upper endabove said deck.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

